Bed Scam (Part 3)

[lizzydrippin]

Some of you might remember a question I put in on the (17/02/08 Consumer Law) which was basically about an elderly gentleman being conned into buying a bed for �5,122 ( 2,600 for the bed and the rest was interest for the finance and the pleasure of paying for it monthly). Anyway, after much searching for a law company that would get involved, eventually the social services took up the case and the ball was just beginning to roll when the elderly gentleman passed away (and the stress from being ripped off certainly didnt help his heart problems). Obviously from that moment on everyone lost interest in the case and as Im the next of kin (though not related at all but as the old man didnt have any family it was left to me to arrange his funeral and clear his council house of all his belongings). He did leave enough money to cover his funeral and another small amount to cover his bills and to take care of his beloved cats (�500). My question is what do I do with the bed, he has already paid more than half of the total amount. The finance company have already been notified of his death (22/4/08) by the social services who told them with great delight that they wouldnt be getting any more money. All they could say was "please leave our name out of any publicity to do with this case" (thats Glydesdale finance by the way). There has been no word from either Glyesdale or Craftymatic (the bed company). But the missed last payment wasn't due until around the 19th May (annoyingly I made a payment for the old man on the very morning of the day he passed away ). Im thinking of getting the mattress professionally cleaned and keeping the bed myself (after all the money Jack paid out for it) but is that wise?

[Ethel]

Hmmm.

Was this bought with a personal loan or hire purchase? When were Glydesdale notified of the death?

As the finance company know the gentleman has passed away, if I were you I would store the bed for a while and see what happens. If there is no contact at all, go ahead and get the bed cleaned and use it.

What you can do if they do contact you depends on whether the loan was personal or hp. I doubt very much you will hear from them.

[bananie]

Usually in Hire Purchase sales, the debtor does not become the owner of the goods until he has paid all instalments due to the credit under the agreement ( check the Consumer Credit Agreement the old man signed, there is undoubtedly a clause saying this). Therefore the goods still technically do not belong to the old man. They will probably require to be listed as an asset in the estate and used to pay the creditor, who will be paid out of the estate, with the free estate divided up as per the will, or as per succession if he died intestate.

[lizzydrippin]

Hi Ethel, cheers for your answer. Im just looking at the agreement and from what I can make out its a Fixed sum loan agreement. Ive also noticed that it says on this agreement that the customer has received an exact copy of this form of an agreement to keep, and that in good time before you signed this you received a copy of the information set out in this document headed 'pre-contract information' and that you have read and agree to the Data protection Information. Now I know for a fact that Jack was given no time to read anything (he wouldn't have understood what he was reading even if he had got the time to read it) but the bed was delivered within 19 hours of the first instance of the seller knocking on his front door. There was no time for him to think about it or talk about it to anyone. Jack actually believed he'd paid for it when he gave the salesman �1200 in cash before he left. Whatever happens there is no way this company will get any more money. Jack was on a state pension, lived in a council house and apart from the money left to cover his funeral and gas and electric bills and a little for vet bills, he didnt have an estate. This company have been sued dozens of times already for scamming elderly people and were even on Watchdog recently for the same thing.

[Ethel]

I remember your original post, lizzy - a distressing situation. I abhor those crooked salespeople - one example that comes to mind was a frail blind elderly lady being sold a mobility scooter.

However, in your case, this is a personal loan so title to the bed passed to Jack. They can't take it back.

Hope it is a comfortable bed. :)

[tigwig]

I hope Ethel is right about you being able to keep the bed. You deserve it for all your effort I remember your other posts and I have seen this company on Watchdog too. Lets hope they all rot in hell!

[lizzydrippin]

Cheers Tigwig for your supportive words and a big Thank you to you Ethel for the good news. Ive made an appt for a professional mattress cleaner to come and clean the mattress (which was still as good as new because most of the time Jack slept in his armchair downstairs and very rarely used the bed which is another reason I'd like to make use of it after Jack forking out almost �3,000 in payments before he passed away). We'll greatly appreciate it too as our bed has been ready for the tip for years but we could never quite afford a new one. Cheers again. Oh yes, a funny thing happened when I read your last e mail Ethel, I called my husband to come and read it and as we were both gleefully chirping on about what good news it was, our kitchen light (computer's in the kitchen) started flashing on and off, it carried on for a good 3 minutes and we were laughing and saying "oh we're glad you're pleased Jack" and it then stopped. Never flashed on and off before and hasn't since! So Jack is obviously chuffed too!